The Coin-Op Catastrophe Collection
We'll try and stop the madness, maybe amuse some and hopefully stop the further destruction of any classic coin-op game.
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This collection of bad repair and even worst coin operated game restoration photographs and stories are here to show the world just how out of control things can get with inexperienced game collectors / restorers, route people and even hack game restoration shops.
We will feature in the 'What's Weak this Week' section some pictures of what we see inside of games during our daily repair and restorations with related stories.
The 'The Lame List' will feature photos of parts that have been 'hacked' by game collectors, route owners and coin-op 'shopping shops'.
We have updated the Lame List!
We will include some amusing background stories, what was hopefully learned by the mistake or hack repair and even what we think about all the mind numbing coin-op disasters we hear about or see first hand.
We will distinguish the year's finest of quack repair/refurbishment by virtually opening a four pack of this Kentucky beer. We'd open a real bottle in solute, however, none of us are brave enough to drink one.
This page will be built by Pinball Medic, the general world wide coin-op collectors community and route people. If you have a picture or even just a story about a really unique repair or game restoration technique, please send us a Contact form or send all the details to pinballmedic1 at Yahoo dot com
Don't forget to include any photos with your tell. We will add them to this page as soon as we can and give you credit for the information (if you want credit).
All contact info is kept completely confidential. We will only post the first or last name and/or the state/country were the submission originated (if given permission).
Note: Postings and stories about auction companies or personal gripes can't legally be posted here and therefore can't be accepted.
The number of stories would be too numerous anyway.
PBM or PM=A Pinball Medic submission.
Coin-Op Catastrophe
A plumber, while replacing a water heater ventilation duct, misstep and fell through the ceiling in this freakish accident. Thankfully, he only fell on the replaceable standard sized playfield glass on this wood rail flipperless pinball. There would have been no way to find a good scoreboard glass for this rare 'Bally Reserve' pinball game.
Photos and story where submitted by an Austin, Texas customer.
No one was hurt in this accident. Only the glass will Rest In Pieces.
 What a mess this caused all over the game owner's antiques, including a mechanical 5 cent slot machine on the right. |
 Luckily, it was just the playfield glass and not the scoreboard glass. |
 Close up view of the damage. |
We're kind of hoping the diameter of the ceiling hole does not match the plumber's. (Insert your own plumber's crack or hole jokes here.)
FUN WITH FLAMESNote: The guy in the photo to the left is not one of our employees.
The left side photo shows a repair man holding a can of contact cleaner he used to clean the contacts on the bowling pins of this bowler. An electrical spark caused the plastic bowling pins to catch on fire while the game was being played. Luckily the bowling alley wood was not damaged and the pins can be replaced.
The other photo shows contact cleaner in flames. WD-40 and contact cleaner are both very flammable and should never be inside a game repair shop.
A short history lesson:
WD-40 stands for Water Displacement formula number 40. It was developed as a rocket fuel addictive. Its function was to remove (displace) water from the fuel. It is not a lubricant or even a cleaning solution.
People can't help but to use WD-40 or contact cleaner to wash down a stepper unit or relay contact. Both contact cleaner and especially WD 40 will leave a dielectric film on contacts that may be impossible to clean off. Eventually, these two hazardous chemicals will cause relay and slide contacts to stop making contact when they are closed.
There is a tell of someone spraying down the whole relay board inside a good condition, but not functioning, electromechanical pinball game to the point were all of the relay contacts were dripping with WD-40 (scoreboard parts are also often hosed down with contact or WD-40).
The game was later brought to a refurbishment shop and could not be repaired. It was simply too hard to clean off all of the WD-40. After all, you can't use contact cleaner to clean up after WD-40 has been applied. Contact cleaner has the added ability of eating up plastic parts like score reels and playfield plastics.
All we like about WD-40 is its smell. We don't use it or recommend it for any purpose other then rocket fuel testing.
The above photos were not taken by us. They are classic photos.
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
YUCK!
What, were you raised in a barn? This pinball game was.
A pinball was delivered to our shop with a live rat inside! We could not keep her still enough to take a photo.
We took the backbox cover door off and she was peering out at us through the wire whole at the bottom of the bolted on backbox. Her name is now Pinney (because 'pin' is short for pinball).
Sadly, she is no longer with us, however, she was thoughtful enough to leave a game completely covered in her poop as shown.
We will now be telling our customers to not bother bring in a game in this condition.
Side Note: We have also bought an EM gun game with a live snake inside. It seemed to like curling around the score reels. It was a harmless garden snake, so it was set free in the back yard. No, we didn't feed Pinney to the snake.
If your curios, get the scoop on all the poop photos: Poo_Photo1 Poo_Photo2 Poo_Photo3
Welcome to the glamorous world of coin-op game repair. We bet these high def pictures will end up scraped on 'G' for everyone to enjoy.
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas - Unfortunately. This game was refurbished, however, we will never try to do this kind of game again.
'What's Weak this Week'
Flagrantly Flippant Flipper Fixing Failures
Our first game for this page is this Captain Fantastic, Why is it so hard for people and repair shops to refurbish a flipper correctly?
In this case, the wrong type and length of screws were used to mount the flipper coil stop. Both screws are going through both the flipper's base and the playfield wood. Luckily, these wood screws were hidden by the playfield apron and didn't do any visible topside damage. The flipper did produce a playfield flipper scrape.
The flipper unit was completely destroyed. The coil was allowed by the bad coil stop and its mounting method to flop all over the place. Allowing the flipper linkage to mal-align, causing both the flipper bushing and the coil sleeve to wear out quickly. We could not save even the flipper coil as the solenoid core had eaten past the coil sleeve and into the coil wires. We also hope this idiot game repairer learns how to solder.
The lesson here is if you don't know what you are doing, you shouldn't try the repair.
Submitted by PM - Austin, Texas before we replaced the flipper unit.
Lost in Purgatory
While not exactly a coin-op catastrophe, this is certainly weak.
We got so lost during a field service call we ended up in Purgatory.
This Texas park is right next to Hell's Hills cemetery.
This shows proof everything you can imagine has a town, lake, river or park named after it in Texas.
Feeling a little Down? - Why not Visit
Smiley, Texas 78159, Paradise, Texas 76073, Rainbow, Texas 76077, Sweet Home, Texas 77987, Comfort, Texas 78013, Friendship, Texas 76530
Love the Sun?
Sun City, Texas 78628, Sunrise, Texas 76661, Sunset, Texas 76270, Sundown, Texas 79372, Sunray, Texas 79086, Sunny Side, Texas 77423
Want something to eat?
Bacon, Texas 76301, Noodle, Texas 79536, Oatmeal, Texas 78605, Turkey, Texas 79261, Trout, Texas 75789, Sugar Land, Texas 77479, Salty, Texas 76567, Rice, Texas 75155, Pearland, Texas 77581, Orange, Texas 77630
And top it off with: Sweetwater, Texas 79556
Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!
Detroit, Texas 75436, Cleveland, Texas 75436, Colorado City, Texas 79512, Denver City, Texas 79323, Klondike, Texas 75448, Nevada, Texas 75173, Memphis, Texas 79245, Miami, Texas 79059, Boston, Texas 75570, Santa Fe, Texas 77517, Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861, Reno, Texas 75462, Pasadena, Texas 77506, Columbus, Texas 78934
Feel like traveling outside the country?
Athens, Texas 75751, Canadian, Texas 79014, China, Texas 77613, Egypt, Texas 77436, Ireland, Texas 76538, Italy, Texas 76538, Turkey, Texas 79261, London, Texas 76854, New London, Texas 75682, Paris, Texas 75460, Palestine, Texas 75801
No need to travel to Washington D.C., Whitehouse, Texas 75791
We even have a city named after our planet! Earth, Texas 79031
We have a city named after our state. Texas City, Texas 77590
Exhausted? Energy, Texas 76452, Pep, Texas 79353
Cold? Blanket, Texas 76432, Winters, Texas
Like to read about History? Santa Anna, Texas, Goliad, Texas, Alamo, Texas, Gun Barrel City, Texas, Robert Lee, Texas
Need Office Supplies? Staples, Texas 78670
Want to go into outer space? Venus, Texas 76084, Mars, Texas 79062
You guessed it. It's on the state line. Texline, Texas 79087
For the kids... Kermit, Texas 79745, Elmo, Texas 75118, Nemo, Texas 76070, Tarzan, Texas 79783, Winnie, Texas 77665, Sylvester, Texas 79560
Other city names in Texas Frognot, Texas 75424, Bigfoot, Texas 78005, Hogeye, Texas 75423, Cactus, Texas 79013, Notrees, Texas 79759, Best, Texas 76932, Veribest, Texas 76886, Kickapoo, Texas 75763, Dime Box, Texas 77853, Old Dime Box, Texas 77853, Telephone, Texas 75488, Telegraph, Texas 76883, Whiteface, Texas 79379, Twitty, Texas 79079
The Anti-Al Gore City - Kilgore, Texas 75662
Our favorites. Cut n Shoot, Texas, Gun Barrell City, Texas, Hoop And Holler, Texas, Ding Dong, Texas, Muleshoe, Texas
The wire at the bottom of this photo shows a very thin #18 gauge wire used to connect two large #14 gauge wires used on the high current General Illumination circuit on an Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition pinball game. The bridging wire is way too small to carry the current load of the G. I. circuit and got so hot you could not touch the wire when the game was turned on. Even worse, the small jumper wire was merely wrapped around the two wires near the transformer and was not wire nutted, soldered in or even taped. Whomever did this put a loose splice (wire nut) in the middle of the way too long jumper wire that ended up hanging right above the fuses to other game circuits (jumper moved to take photo).This situation could have either caused a fire in the computer server room where this machine was located or at the very least shorted out the transformer or even the game boards.
We are surely going to find more of this unique wiring method inside of this game and others we field service.
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
'The LAME LIST'
Top list of ridicules tech and how-to questions we've been asked.We only ask this. Think before asking or sending an E-mail about what you can do to answer your own question.
1. My pinball is broken. What could cause that to happen? (no other info is provided. Not even the game's name or a description of what is not working).
A. Oh, about 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 things can cause 'that' to happen. Is the game even plugged in?
2. The game's lights come on when I power the game on. However, the game doesn't play when I push the start button. This is probably an easy fix, right?
A. See number 1's answer on this list. Also, don't count the general illumination lights on the playfield or backbox as a way to tell if the game is working (MPU is booted and running a program, EM game has reset and is ready to play). The G.I. lights are always on and don't indicate anything about how the game is functioning.
This situation is like the saying; 'The lights are on, but nobody is home'. The G.I. lights come on when the power is turned on and are not controlled by a relay or electronic circuit. Check the simple things first like if the displays are working/displaying scores, if there is a credit on the game or in some cases a missing game ball before jumping to conclusions.
3. I'm selling three pinball games at a garage sale this Saturday. Each of these mint machines will cost $50 and are very rare collectible pinball games. Will you come out and buy them from me?
A. Please, don't tempt us with a cheap price on a pinball game when you are actually selling Pachinkoes. We really don't like driving a long distance to find someone mistaking a Pachinko or a 'home use only' game for a coin operated true pinball machine.
Flipperless Pinball did branch from a game with a playfield covered in 'pins' (nails). A Pachinko does use pins and balls, however, no one should mistake this type of coin-op for a real pinball game with flippers.
Don't waste our time trying to sell us a Pachinko. We don't work on these or even try and sell them. Skill Slots are another game we don't need.
See our coin-op game buying page for more info on what games we want.
4. It's Christmas day. Can you send someone out to fix my game?
A. NO, it's Christmas. You've waited for a holiday to try and get your game fixed? We will not even do a 'code blue' service call on a holiday
5. Can I borrow a paint chip off a playfield or backglass? I can get its color matched at a hardware shop's paint matching machine.
A. NO, we will not take the time to destroy a perfect game so you can start messing up yours.
Paint matching is both a science and an art form. You can't use a gloss paint to replace flat ink screened artwork. House paint is not compatible with ink.
Even the most skilled playfield restorers leave a patch that doesn't match perfectly due to the ink's type and age. This can be seen by simply tilting your head and using the available defused light to see the difference in color and/or shininess of the patched artwork.
Pinball Medic no longer does playfield artwork refurbishment because of the time involved.
6. "I am replacing a 5195 coil and the sleeve I received w/the new coil is shorter than the original (Gottlieb's Joker Poker pinball). Will this work or do I need a longer coil sleeve?" This was the actual wording of the question. (Pinball Medic did not supply these parts)
A. We don't usually mind being asked technical questions. However, this one was "Weak" because without photos of the part and mechanism, a Gottlieb parts book from the year the game was made or having the game in our shop, there isn't any way to answer this question. We didn't even know what mechanism the coil was installed in or the game's title.
It's like asking a blind man "What color are my shoes?"
Why would the blind man care about the color of your shoes or bother trying to find out?
Ask the parts supplier that shipped you the part and not us.
Simply installing the new coil with the new coil sleeve (without de-soldering the old coil) would show you if the coil and the sleeve are the right ones (this assumes the right coil part number was ordered).
Check the movement of the coil plunger to see if the plunger's linkage hits the coil sleeve. If it does, the coil sleeve is too long. If the coil falls out after being placed into the mechanism without the coil plunger, then the coil sleeve is too short.
There can be a small difference in sleeve length when replacing a metal coil sleeve with the better plastic sleeve type. Coil sleeves can be bought separately from the coil and cost in most cases under a dollar. You might not find the exact replacement sleeve without trying the one that came with the new coil or trying some spare coil sleeves to get the best fit. Hopefully you can get the sleeve out of the old coil to compare it with its replacement.
Update: We received another E-mail (after asking for more info) stating that this coil was used in a knocker unit. Knocker coils will normally come with a sleeve that has an extra bit of sleeve tube after the sleeve's flange so that the plunger can slide almost totally out of the coil sleeve when the solenoid is not activated. The sleeve should stick out of both ends of the coil on knocker units. Check out this sleeve chart for more information.
7. I've played pinball my whole life. Doesn't that qualify me to work and do refurbishment on other people's games? (This question was included in the conclusion part of a resume we recently received.)
A. No, it does not. Would you ask someone to fix your car who only knows how to drive one?
It's true that most qualified game repairman either have or had a large game hobby/collection. This, along with some formal education and a lot of repair practice, is why he/she started to repair other people's games.
However, It also takes many years of professional education in electronics, mechanics, carpentry, painting/touch-up and learning about what not to do to an arcade game. Mistakes are very valuable learning occasions, however, one can't afford to learn using this method on a customer's game.
Note: There is someone with only a degree in "marketing" that does "coin-op repair". He keeps our repair shop full with all the games he has done even after the customer has paid for a service contract with this joker. This issue is improving as he has started to drive all the way to Dallas or Houston to get new customers that don't know him and his work. Hopefully he will be out of everyone's hair shortly.
This situation wastes a large amount of our time repairing his hacks. This is why we posted this question to try and avoid having to repair some one's hacked repair job.
We will be filling this section when we get the time.
<start gripe>
Just one more gripe. We don't have the time to answer a large number of questions for free. We are most likely the only shop left that even tries to answer at least a few questions for people who are not our customers. We have so many Q and A's to make this a top 20 list.
</end gripe>
Submitted by PBM
We did an in-home service call on a Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles video arcade game. The controls were not working and when we went to remove the control panel we found beer cans (cans, bottles and paper six pack cartons) laying on top of the plugged in power supply at the bottom of the game (A major fire hazard)!
We also found two used Bongs for smoking weed made out of plastic vacuum cleaner attachments that included the original floor lint inside each attachment. This was all removed in front of a very embarrassed game owner.
We probably got his kid grounded forever.
We wished we had taken some photos of the Bongs. Does lint add to the BUZZ you get from smoking marijuana?
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
How do you take your pinball? Regular or Extra Crispy.
This game's owner tried to do some playfield Mylar removal using the "hot" or in this case the "way too hot" method.
He took no time to do this the right way.
Instead of using a hair dryer and some Goo-Gone to remove the Mylar and glue (This technique is a lost art form), he used a paint stripper hot air gun!
While this guy has no brains at all, it took a pair of really big pin balls to post these photos and admit to doing this to his good looking High Speed pinball machine.
We solute him for showing the worst technique for Mylar removal to the world.
Restoration education can be costly.
Submission - This is a 'classic' R.G.P. post.
While doing a routine game refurbishment, we took off the back box cover and immediately knew we had an addition to this page.
Other then being out of focus, can you spot what's wrong with this picture?
Click on the photo to reveal the problem or go here for a closer view
This game was "shopped out" by a large coin-op retailer from Chicago. The birth place of pinball!
This issue was running on the game for years and for some reason didn't short out!
The coil lugs to coil stop interface was insulated by nothing but dirt. We just can't justify this kind of "repair".
Yet another reason to believe the term "shopped out" should never be associated with the term "refurbished"
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
STUCK WITH STICKERS
Photos of tax tags, warning and coin-op repair advertising stickers that are permanently attached to the game in the worse locations imaginable.
Stickers are one of our biggest pet peeves next to people applying grease to everything inside of a game.
The game on the left was found mounted to the ceiling of a popular restaurant surrounded by rock and roll posters of local bands. Who knows, the posters might have been worth more then the game, but why destroy a pinball to display them?
We like unique bumper stickers on a car, but don't try and improve the side art of a pinball with them. Otherwise, this Bonanza EM pinball would have been a good game to restore.
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
Matching the Ridiculously Absurd
If someone makes a million dollar commode seat, buy ten of them! We added the last part.
PM bought a Caperville EM pinball a while back. We got it because it had a perfect backglass and playfield. It also had some unique side art as you can see in the photo we will post soon. We don't have a good picture of this yet.
Yes, someone tried to match the pinball with the most butt ugly wallpaper imaginable. This stuff is woolly and looks like a thick green shag rug!
We're going to try and remove the wallpaper side-art. We will then find out if there is any good original side artwork left on this otherwise good looking game.
Putting wallpaper on a game is just like putting a large sticker on a part that should never have one on it (aprons or the backglass).
Don't wallpaper or paint your game even if the side-art is bad. It can be restored in most cases.
Submitted by PBM - Austin, Texas
Bad Jokes!
Q) What is a transistor?
A) A Priest who wears Nun's clothing.
Q) What do you call a lawyer who has gone bad?
A) Senator.
Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas.
If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas;
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas;
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas;
If you measure driving distance in hours, you may live in Texas;
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas;
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas;
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas;
If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas;
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